A known hydraulic control system is intended for a construction machine that is designed to achieve an even more increased speed of a specific actuator that can be driven through merging of hydraulic fluids from two hydraulic pumps. This construction machine includes an engine, variable displacement first and second hydraulic pumps driven by the engine, a specific actuator that can be driven through merging of the hydraulic fluid delivered from each of the first hydraulic pump and the second hydraulic pump, another actuator that is different from the specific actuator, and a third hydraulic pump that is driven by the engine to supply the hydraulic fluid for driving the another actuator. The hydraulic control system includes a merging valve that can merge the hydraulic fluid from the third hydraulic pump with the hydraulic fluid from the first hydraulic pump and the second hydraulic pump to thereby selectively supply the merged hydraulic fluid to the specific actuator and a merging cancellation valve that cancels the merging function of the merging valve (see, for example, Patent Document 1).